We’re Back!! Summary of Days 1 and 2

Hola, hola, hola from San Miguel, Mexico!!!

We’re off to the races as our 2015 trip has officially commenced. Months of planning, organizing, and prepping have gone into this trip. This year we have 30 doctors, nurses, and volunteers that have taken time off of work and traveled from New York, California, and everywhere in between to serve children from across Mexico. We are extremely grateful for our wonderful KF 2015 team!!

So here’s what we’ve been up to the past 48 hours:

Saturday the majority of the team flew in, but flight delays had some arriving too late for 5 o’clock guacamole hour. Sunday, we came to the hospital and set up for clinic. Clinic involves organizing and seeing over 200 potential patients in about a 7 hour time span. At this point, we’ve had our fair share of clinic runs, so this year’s went fairly smoothly. Dr. Mencio, Dr. Fitch, Dr. Andrews, and Dr. Stutz each had an exam room where they evaluated kids to see if they were viable candidates for surgery. If cleared for surgery the kids proceed to check-in where their height and weight are taken along with a photo for identification. They then proceed to team anesthesia for an evaluation. The families are told to wait around or near the hospital until the end of the day when they are told their surgery date and time. Needless to say, it’s a long but fulfilling day. This is the day the team gets to meet and interact with the kids and their families the most. It’s truly humbling to see parents, grandparents, and siblings travel hours across Mexico to bring their loved ones to see us.

Sunday night, the schedule was made and the team headed to a corner restaurant in San Miguel for authentic Mexican food and mariachi music. We then headed home to get as much rest as possible knowing that we had a long (I mean 14 hour days every day long) ahead of us. The final count for number of patients signed up this week is….64!! That means long OR days, lots of caffeine, and a few fudge covered Oreos now and then.

Last night we ventured to Mivida, a local pizza place. We were exhausted, but not too exhausted to put on our dancing shoes. If the whole medicine thing doesn’t work out for the KF team, I think we have a real shot at Dancing With The Stars (or American Idol, but that’s a different story…)

Monday has started off well! All surgeons had patients on the table before 9 which is quite a triumph. Team Mencio/Fitch and Dr. Andrews are currently tied for the lead each currently on their third patient. Stutz is close behind as he finishes up his second case. All patients have also showed up for their surgeries today which can sometimes be a hit or miss on the first day.

The move for tonight is Pollo Feliz at the hospital , one of the KF team’s favorite San Miguel eateries. Shout out to Billy Grande, we miss you and will all be thinking of you as we inhale our Pollo Feliz.

Thank you for choosing to following along with us this week! We will post updates every morning.